Arvada – The history books inform us that between Arvada and Fort Collins, the one and only state baseball title went the way of the Reds in 1964.

Not much has happened since.

Optimism is uncharacteristically high for each, and on Tuesday the bats informed us why.

The visiting Lambkins (4-3), fresh off five games in Phoenix, scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning to post a 15-10 win over the previously unbeaten Reds in Class 5A nonleague play.

Fort Collins nickel-and-dimed Arvada reliever Justin Logan for three hits after he took over in the sixth inning, but didn’t capitalize until the eighth.

A leadoff single by Garrett Houts was followed by Ryan Beck getting plunked. After Kellen Sakala popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt back to the mound, Brian Jenkins came through with a Texas-leaguer over the second baseman’s head that scored the eventual game-winning run.

“We’ll take what we can get, for sure,” said Jenkins, whose three-run double tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the fifth. “We came in knowing they were a scrappy team, because if you win six games playing anybody, you must be doing something right.”

An infield single by Hanz Broman, his third hit of the game, scored Jenkins. With the bases loaded, leadoff man Joe Schmidtbauer put the final nail in the Arvada coffin with a double to left that cleared the bases.

“I’m happy to get out of here,” Lambkins coach Brad Deal said. “I like Arvada, though. They battled hard for seven innings and took advantage of some our mistakes.”

Said Reds coach Brad Mulvaney: “We are very happy with our kids. A lot of people questioned how Arvada was 6-0, but I think we showed it today.”

Arvada’s nine-hole hitter, Pat Hunzeker, went 2-for-5, scored three runs and drove in another. Leadoff man Jason West went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

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